Election day has arrived and all eyes are on the race for Las Vegas mayor, where incumbent Carolyn Goodman is looking to win a second term while fending off a strong challenge from fellow city council member Stavros Anthony.
Anthony has managed to keep the race close despite Goodman's big fundraising advantage, largely by using the mayor's support of a failed $200 million downtown soccer stadium against her.
Both campaigns have ramped up their get-out-the-vote efforts in advance of today's primary election, with campaign advertisements flooding mailboxes and dozens of canvassers working the streets for both sides.
"The race is going to come down to whose people come out and vote," Goodman campaign manager Bradley Mayer said.
Lisa Mayo-DeRiso, Anthony's campaign manager, said undecided voters will likely swing the contest.
"The (number) of undecideds is still high. It depends on where they break," she said.
With two other candidates running for mayor along with Goodman and Anthony, there's a good chance neither candidate will get the 50 percent of votes needed to win the race outright. If that happens, the top two vote-getters would square off in the June general election.
Polls for the primary election open at 7 a.m. and close at 7 p.m. A complete list of polling locations can be found on the Clark County Election Department's website.
Turnout has been low so far, with only 16,794 votes cast in Las Vegas during early voting, about 7 percent of the electorate.
Three other city council seats are up for grab in Las Vegas, although none of the races is as close as the mayoral contest. In Ward 1, incumbent Lois Tarkanian is facing a challenge from Raymond Fletcher, while in Ward 5 City Councilman Ricki Barlow is facing off against Randy Voyard. The Ward 3 race has six candidates, including incumbent Bob Coffin.
All Las Vegas residents can vote in the mayor's race, but only residents in wards 1, 3 and 5 can vote on their respective city council races.
Two city council races are on the ballot in North Las Vegas, with Pamela Goynes-Brown seeking a second term representing Ward 2. The seat in Ward 4 is open after incumbent Wade Wagner decided not to run again, opening the door for a contest between former city councilman Richard Cherchio, who lost in 2011 by a single vote, and Matthew Anderson.
Only voters in those wards can vote in the primary election.
In Henderson, three incumbent city council members — Sam Bateman, Gerri Schroder and Debra March — face challengers in their bids for re-election. All Henderson residents will be able to vote in each of the three races.
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